NOTE:  WordPress is having issues & the font here is all screwy, at least in my view. I do apologize & please do not think the larger font means I’m angry or screaming at my lovely readers. I am NOT angry & am speaking in a very quiet voice.  Hopefully, the post will look better to you than it does to me, if not, again, I’m sorry, but no matter what I try here I can’t fix the look of it.  Now on to my post for today:

I’ve been super busy with orders and wish to send out a special thank you to everyone who has ordered from my web site since June 1, 2013.  My summer has been insanely busy and I’m often working 8 – 14 hour days, and even weekends.  I am NOT complaining.  I am VERY thankful for all the increased business and my site has been attracting anywhere from 2 – 8 new clients a WEEK.  In the past that was unheard of.  It really helps to come up on Google as Number 1 for any search!  Google “contact spirit guides” and see what comes up.

Oh dear!  I just googled it and Belief.net is now Number 1.  I am Number 2.  Bummer.  <sigh>  Oh well, you get my meaning.  That former Number 1 placement on Google was VERY good to me.  The Number 2 placement is also very good to me.  That one page attracts more visitors to my site than any other.  They click on the links, like what they see, and then place an order.  I’m very thankful for all the new clients & many are now referring me to their families and friends as well. There is NO better form of advertising than word of mouth.  Who are you most likely to believe?  A friend or an online ad? 

Well, I was going to blog today about the day my life changed.  I will save that for next time because I just got an email.  It’s the kazillionth time since December, 1997 when I began my online business that I have received this email, however, I haven’t received one like it in about six months, but people on Facebook will always send me emails there asking for this, that and the other and expecting me to be happy to give it to them for free. 

 Here is what the email said and this is 100% typical of ALL of them:

 Subject Line:  Confused

 “I have a question about something I’ve been taught all my life. I mean NO disrespect so please don’t take it the wrong way.

 “I have always been taught you are not supposed to charge for your gift an abilities. It is a gift given to you an is to be shared freely . I see a lot of others that charge people for their services an this confuses me. Again I truly mean no disrespect just curious.

“I know that sometimes the things you need to help someone costs money but if you are using your gift to help someone wouldn’t that bless you with the ability to be able to find what you need? I am new at this an have been taught things all my life I just never really tried to do anything with the abilities I feel until now.  I don’t know why I waited so long I have always felt the abilities there I just never really knew how or where to start. A very good friend recently told me I needed to act on my abilities to release myself from problems that I am having so I have been reading an studying here an there. I was just wondering I’ve been wanting to ask this question but didn’t feel the time was right until now. I hope you are not offended. I am looking forweard to hearing what you have to say. Blessed Be”

 I wasn’t offended because I’ve received this type of email countless times over the years.  At least this person was nice about it.  I’ve had people actually insist I’m going to hell for charging for my God-given “gifts,” that are “gifts,” therefore they shouldn’t have to pay for them.  I don’t bother responding to those emails and no, I don’t believe in hell either, which is an obvious human construct if you have researched the Bible, as I have.

 Now, I could see this person is a seeker.  She obviously has some gifts and she’s now wanting to learn more about them and start using them to help others. However, she thinks she shouldn’t charge others once she does learn how to use her gifts.

 People who are born “gifted” are not born KNOWING HOW TO USE THEIR GIFTS.  Let me make that crystal clear.  So I repeat:

 People who are born gifted are not born knowing how to use their gifts.

 You need to go out and learn how to use them, which is obviously what this person is now attempting to do.

 When I receive this type of question in the beginning I used to get VERY offended.  I won’t lie.  No one wants to be told your work is worth nothing therefore you shouldn’t charge one penny for it.  No one wants to be told that others expect them to put in hours and hours on readings, candle work, and art and then not collect a single dollar for their time and energy.

 These days, however, with maturity I have come to realize people who come to me saying I shouldn’t charge for my services are coming from a place of simply not knowing that this is WORK, and it is DIFFICULT work.  They don’t know because they themselves don’t do readings, they don’t work with candles, directing energy, meditating and focusing to be sure that energy reaches the client and their situation, or spend weeks working on something like a Soul Portrait or Manifestation Mandala.

 I realize these days that when people write to me insisting I should work for free they do so because they have no idea that people like me are given REAL gifts, but we are not born knowing how to use our gifts.  We have to buy books and decks. I can’t even tell you how many seminars and workshops I have attended over the years and I assure you that NONE of them were free.  So we’re not only being compensated for our time and energy when you come along and pay us for a reading or another service.  We are being compensated for our years of studying, knowledge and expertise that the average person does not possess.  That makes our services of VALUE and it makes practitioners such as myself of WORTH.

 This is my reply to this person, already sent just a few minutes ago:

 “I hear this often.  It comes from people who have not devoted 20+ years of study, buying books & decks, taking classes & seminars, & so on and people who ask often have not done candle work or readings of professional quality so they are totally unaware of the massive amounts of time and energy that goes into each one.  Just because the universe has given you a “gift” does not automatically mean you are meant to simply give that gift away.  Everyone is entitled to be monetarily compensated for their time & their energy.  You wouldn’t ask a lawyer to defend you for free, or ask a doctor to treat you for free, or ask a teacher to instruct your children for free (although in the case of teachers they are grossly underpaid, in my opinion).  It’s the same with readers & magical practitioners.  Their skills are not only gifts, they are learned.  NO ONE is born knowing this stuff & anyone who makes that claim is a liar.  We may be born gifted, but we still have to learn to use our gifts & to hone them so we can offer them to others.  All that costs money.  Plus, I have bills to pay, a house & family to take care of, & need to help put food on the table.  So how can ANYONE except a person in my line of work to be willing to work for free?????  That’s what I’d like to know.  Once you’ve undertaken your study, learned what your gifts are, and realize how much work all this is you will then realize we have every right to charge for our services.  Don’t ever let anyone sucker you into thinking you should work for them for free.

Blessings,
Nefer Khepri, PhD.”

 The last thing I want is for this poor woman to go through all the expense of learning HOW to use her gifts, then to believe she must give them away for free.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.

The time, energy, skill and expertise of a person in my line of work is VALUABLE.  Oftentimes, people tell me in their first email:  “I’ve come to you because no one else can help me, not my church, not my priest, no one.”  Often, when people come to someone like me I’m their last resort before they give up.  They have exhausted all other known avenues and now feel completely stuck. 

 All of you who are readers, candle workers, artists, and healers remember this.  You worked long and hard to learn how to use your gifts.  There is NO reason on earth why you should feel guilty for accepting fair payment for your services.

 YOU are of VALUE and YOU are WORTH IT.

 Don’t ever forget that.